The last waterbender
by CruelMan
Summary: Slightly AU. Zuko and Katara. Rated M for later chapters. About a dozen fire nation soldiers stood before her, palms ignited and itching with heat. They were out to kill her. But it wasn't them she was worried about. After all, the moon was her ally tonight. No, it was the son of the Fire Lord that stood before her that chilled her raging blood.
1. Chapter 1

My first zutara story. I am not a good writer so bear with me. I felt inspired by all the other great stories out there, like Gods & Monsters, or any story that Like a Dove writes haha. We need more stories like those out here :) Anywhooo enjoy reading and let me know if you like it or not and if I should continue with this drabble. Cause that's what it was lol.

* * *

><p>She had been a fool, she knew it now…<br>And yet, the moon had pulled her veins as it was in her blood. She had to see it, for it had been too long. But she was a fool and she knew it the moment she had stepped into the light.  
>The flames that licked her back startled her and out of instinct she startled herself. For her blood had tasted the moon, it had tasted its power. She had raised her arms…<br>Her cold daggers buried themselves deep into the heart of her attacker. And in that tiny second of realization she had killed the dead soldier's friend. His lips turned blue as ice slowly crawled out of his mouth. "Fuck" A hiss escaped her lips.

About a dozen fire nation soldiers stood before her, palms ignited and itching with heat. They were out to kill her. But it wasn't them she was worried about. After all, the moon was her ally tonight. No, it was the son of the Fire Lord that stood before her that chilled her raging blood. His eyes were set on hers, slowly fixing there amber on her hands. Her _bending _hands. She gulped as he took a step forward, his face set in a dark scowl. Panic got to her.

He took another step closer and this time she took a step back, away from the light. His hands were twitching at his sides, yet he didn't start a flame. She had heard the rumors of what the fire nation did to prisoners, especially when they were caught bending. She had witnessed the men, women and even children that came to her healing clinic, hands chopped off, some horribly maimed while others were beyond the point of recognition. She was one of the last remaining water benders, a master at that. She couldn't risk being caught, if she wanted to escape she had to do it now. Raising her arms she held on to what little water was left in her pouch and used it to freeze the men solid to the ground. Then, she turned on her heels and fled the scene.

When she returned home her heart was beating rapidly.

-/-

She had her hair tied up in a bun, she liked it that way. It did not get in the way when she was treating her patients. The night had gone by quietly, too quiet if you asked her. Not once did she _feel _a fire nation bastard near her home. She hates the fire nation. She hates the Fire Lord, and she hates his son.

She smells the burned flesh before she sees it. Her face set in a scowl as her assistant brings in another burned child. The loud sobs the little girl is making leaves a twisted taste on the waterbender´s tongue. The fire nation has a thing for burning people. Dipping her hands in the white ointment she gets to work. She was clever, using the ointment as a cover up for her bending. As soon as her hands touched the child's skin the sobs ceased. Katara had a thing for healing people, she liked to make the world a better place. Wherever the fire burned, her water would heal. "There, all better. Remember to leave the bandage on for three more days, the burns should have healed by then." Katara smiled at the girl in front of her, who in return bowed her head in a thankful gesture.

More burned people came in, but the waterbender could heal them without putting much effort into it. After all, she was a skilled healer. The day went by fast and less people came to her clinic as the day ended. She had told Suki, her loving assistant, to go home a few hours ago. Katara was about to call it a day as well. She was tired. She needed to get the smell of fire out of her nose and hair. A bath would be nice. She smiled at the thought of it.

It is then that she sees the stranger that is clutching the doorpost as if his life is depending on it. She cannot see his face for he is wearing a blue mask. But she can tell he is in pain. She can tell because of the arrow that is stuck in his chest. Her first instinct is to help him, but something deep inside of her tells her to run. She suppresses the latter though. His hands are bloodied when she helps him to lie back onto the bed. And his mask is following her every movement. She keeps on drabbling stupid things while she gets the ointment and some towels out of the cabin behind her.

The stranger doesn't scream like she thought he would when she removes the arrow. In fact, he doesn't even make a sound. Her hands lift the arrow into the air and she examines it. It's a fire nation arrow. The guy must have gotten on their bad side. Good. Katara likes people who rebel against the Fire Lord.  
>She pushes his shirt up a bit and starts spreading out the white ointment on the wound. "It's poisoned. Don't worry I'll fix you up." She smiles at the mask and tends to ask about it but decides not to. For a moment she stares at his muscular chest. A blush creeping up her cheeks before she gets to work. Her hands touch the tissue near the poisoned arrow, the skin had already started to turn black.<p>

The waterbenders hands work magic on the skin and when she is done she is pretty sure that under the thick layer of ointment the skin is flawless again. She sighs. "You're all done, I just need to bandage the wound and you'll be good to go." The stranger doesn't thank her. In fact the moment she blinks he is gone.

When she arrives to work the next morning, the son of the Fire Lord and his personal guards are waiting for her.


	2. Chapter 2

-/-

The heart that hammered rapidly against the confinements of her chest was making her feel strangled.  
>She´s suffocating under their scrutinizing stares and for a moment she considers running, running because if they caught her she can´t help these people, this town from the torment of fire.<p>

Her mouth has gone dry and _damn_ she´s _suffocating_ and she hates the fact that her feet are still carrying her towards the doorstep where they are watching her like firehawks. She feels uncomfortable and her fingertips are searching for water, she needs water right now.

She doesn't even realize her feet had stopped and her surroundings are hazy. She's panicking. Her eyes can't seem to _focus_ on her surroundings and all she sees is gold. Gold because it's in _his_ eyes, his armor, the guards are wearing it and _red_. Fire, his scar and their blood.

"Are you the owner of this clinic?" Reality comes crashing back like a tidal wave and I nod, not trusting myself yet to speak. "Bow, you're in the presence of royalty!" A bark is all it takes for someone to push me down on the ground harshly and it takes a second before I feel a heavy foot on my back.

I grit my teeth in protest but I know better than to argue and keep my mouth shut.

"Have you seen a man with a blue mask who ironically calls himself the blue spirit?"  
>I notice now that the <em>Prince<em> won't even acknowledge me. The guard does all the talking while I am eating dust.

"No."

The lie leaves my mouth smoothly, almost as if it isn't a lie, an enemy of my enemy is my friend. "Your Highness." I add as I feel the foot on my back add a little extra pressure. My fingers are itching for water, if only I could _touch_ him.

Fill the guard's veins with ice. But I can't, and I won't. The guard shoves a wanted poster in front of my face and repeats his question. I don't budge, not even when the pressure on my back is lifted and I somehow find myself back on my feet. A small crowd has gathered in front of the clinic now upon seeing the Prince.

"We have a source saying they saw that blue faced freak come out of this very clinic. You sure you haven't seen him _girly_?"  
>My eyes must radiate a certain gleam of hostility at the new nickname because the guard takes a tentative step back and steps in front of that excuse of a Prince.<p>

"I have not seen him, and I closed up early yesterday. I even send my assistant home. _Your Highness"_ My voice carries a mocking tone as I look the guard straight in the eye.

A movement of the Prince's chin is all it takes and suddenly the guards infiltrate my clinic. I have nothing to hide yet I feel violated, stripped down for all to see as they even go through my personal belongings. The Prince just stands there, ordering them around and he is _watching_.

"What are you looking for? Perhaps I can help you find it instead of making a mess?" My voice sounds snappier than I intended but the guards don't even acknowledge my existence. "Are you just going to let them turn this place into pulp?!"

I'm directing my voice at the Prince now and I am shocked when he actually turns his gaze in my direction as if to acknowledge me.

"Shut up peasant, I don't talk to the likes of you!" His voice sounds raspy yet smooth as his eyes lock with mine for just a brief second but the damage is done.

My blood is boiling and I can't breathe because there seems to be no air around me but I have to _breathe_ and I am gasping for air and I can't stop myself when my fist comes flying right at him and- His hands grip my wrist with ease and I am soaring through the air before I hit the ground hard. My wrists are hurting and he _burned _me, he _burned me._

I grit my teeth and am about to suck the water right out of the air but a hand on my shoulder stops me from doing something stupid.

_Suki_ "Katara, it's not worth you getting into jail or worse, I'll help you clean up the mess." She smiles at me, a genuine smile and somehow I find myself calm down.  
>The moment is short lived however as a bolt of fire grazes my arm and I scream in surprise.<p>

"You have committed a serious crime peasant! Your Highness what would you like us do to her?" The guard from earlier is standing just a few feet away from me, his eyes sending me a death glare. "Nothing, I'm sure the woman has learned her lesson." And with that they are leaving.

Once they are gone I quickly heal my wrist and let Suki bandage them for the effect. She knows of my secret. My eyes scan the mess they made and I sigh as I start collecting folders and maps and place them back where they belong. "You can't just attack the fire Prince Katara, he could have killed you."

Her voice is soft but I can still detect the anger in her voice as well, she hates them just as much as I do. "I know Suki, it's just he made me so angry.

And it reminded me of…" A soft hand comes down on my arm and I see my assistant nod, she understands. Of course she does, the fire nation took away her home and family too. "Let's just clean up the mess okay?  
>I'm sure there will be a lot of clients today, the fire nation is searching for benders again." I just nod my head and begin to clean up.<p>

Suki was right when she said that it would be a busy day. Once the fire nation came to collect young bending children the parents or brothers and sisters would often defend them and attack the soldiers. Right now I was treating three men at the same time and Suki was busy bandaging the minor wounds.

My hands felt cool against the hot of the burns and cuts and I smiled at the patient, I was making a difference in this ruined corrupted world. People came in till an hour before curfew, then it suddenly stopped and the clinic was quiet again.

"Suki, it's nearly curfew you should go home, I'll clean up this mess." My hands gestured towards the blooded bandages and stitches that lay on the floor. "Thanks Katara" Suki stretched her back. "I didn't think they hurt that many people, Ozai really must have had a bad day to inflict this kind of shit to the people."

"He always has a bad day, evil never sleeps Suki." We both giggled at that. "You sure you don't want me to help you clean up?" "No I've got it, just go. I'll see you tomorrow." We said our goodbyes and I continued to clean up the mess.

There was blood all over the floor from the girl who had lost her arm and the thought made me sick. Who would disfigure a child?! Tears started to form in my eyes as I grasped my mother's necklace between my fingers.

I could still relive the memory as if it happened yesterday. When the fire nation came to our home up in the North, Admiral Zhao had brought with him a little boy.  
>He was a bit older than me yet everyone bowed before him and a fire nation soldier shoved my face into the snow as well. We were to bow in his presence.<p>

The admiral told us he was looking for a waterbending girl or boy. The last waterbender. Everyone kept their mouth shut but when Zhao started to hurt people my mother stepped forward and said something to the man that I could not hear. She was being shoved forward and-

A sharp noise is bringing me back to reality and within no time I am in a defensive stance. Ready to attack. What I didn't expect was to see the so called Blue Spirit stand in front of me, his hand clutching his side and stomach as blood is oozing out from the wound.

I gasp and help him towards the nearest bed as I slowly lift up his shirt. It doesn't look good, I had seen a lot of gruesome wounds but whoever had inflicted this on him really wanted him dead. Normally the fire nation just wanted to scare so although the wounds were gruesome they were not really meant to kill someone.

Not all of them were. The masked man started to cough and a bit of blood seeped beneath the mask onto his chest.

Bandages and stitches were not going to help, his internal organs were damaged. "Close your eyes." The mask just stared at me and I wasn't sure if the person had listened to me or not but soon the man became very still and I figured that with the amount of blood loss the person had fallen unconscious.

I wasted no time and summoned water to heal him. It took me 15 minutes to heal his organs and another 10 minutes to close his wounds. The moon wasn't on my side tonight and I felt drained as I let myself slump down against the cupboard and onto the floor. I just sat there staring at the bed above me.

The person was obviously asleep and it would take a while before he woke up. And even if I wanted to peek under his mask I just couldn't, my body wouldn't move. I had been waterbending all day and to heal this unlucky soul had really taken its toll on my body.

The blue light coming from the lamps suddenly faded to a soft glow and I realized that curfew had already set in. I'd have to sleep in the clinic tonight since I couldn't go home anymore. Not in this state. I eyed the blood on the walls and floor and with the last of my strength I bended it towards the drain.

After that everything went black and I let myself be succumbed by the darkness.

When I woke it was pitch dark and it took my eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. I could hear soft breathing and realized that the masked man was still here. I couldn't see the clock but instinct told me it was around 4 in the morning. My legs felt stiff as I tried to stand.

"Ugh." A raspy growl came from the bed and I knew the patient was awake. "How are you feeling?" My voice was still a bit hoarse from sleeping as I hovered over the man. "I fixed you up as much as I could, you were in a really bad shape."

The Blue Spirit just stared at me and I felt a bit uncomfortable. "You do not talk?" A nod. "Oh that's alright. Are you feeling better?" Another nod.  
>"Look whoever inflicted that wound on you, you should stay away from. You barely made it."<p>

The mask seemed to stare at my wrists and wasn't really paying a lot of attention to what I was saying. "Besides, I don't think I'll be here for much longer. I tried to hit the Fire _Prince_ today, the arrogant snob. The fire nation already is paying close attention to the clinic, and now that I'd done something stupid I'm sure they'll be all over me in the future. They were looking for you, you know?"

In an instant his hand is clamped shut around my mouth and I panic. My hands shove up to his throat and my fingertips brush against his blood. He stirs a little as he feels the strange sensation and angles his mask to look at me. Just as I am about to freeze his veins I hear it, or rather I _feel_ it. The sound of distant voices and footsteps, two steadily beating hearts.  
>The Blue Spirit pushes me against the wall and presses his body against mine as I feel the two figures walking past the door of the room.<p>

"No, she said we just have to hide it somewhere for the soldiers to find tomorrow." The voice sounds female and I frown. _Hide what? _ The voices must be coming this way again because the Blue Spirit shoves me into a closet and pulls me down on the ground with him. "Because what fear do the people have if they can get patched up for free in here? Besides, she suspects the peasant being a waterbender."

"But that's absurd, the last waterbender was killed ages ago by Zhao and Zuko."

I tense up at this bit of information as the memory slowly replays in my head. The Blue Spirit somehow must have sensed my discomfort because suddenly he starts rubbing soothing circles on my arm. We're really close together and I can feel a heat rising to my cheeks at our proximity. The mask stares at me intently as his finger brushes up to my lip and skims over it. The other is caressing my brown curls.

I feel myself becoming mesmerized by the ministrations. The voices continue talking but I can't hear them, the voices sound muffled, dull, far away. I can however feel their blood and tell they are still in the room. _Why are they here? _ I want to whisper to him but I can't find my voice, and suddenly it's too hot.

_He's_ too hot. The narrow space reminds me of the _ship_ and I start to gasp for air but his hand is preventing me from taking deep breathes and his hand is hot and sticky and…_firebender. _He's a firebender. My eyes must have widened and as the mask stares back at me I can tell that he _knows _that I know.

The ministrations don't stop however and I try to fight it but as the Blue Spirit lifts up his mask a bit and angles his head it's too late. His lips find mine and I'm drowning in the kiss. Somewhere in the back of my mind I am aware that the infiltrators are long gone, and that we're still in the closet.

But his taste and his lips are enchanting me, like a thousand butterflies are fluttering in my stomach and my lungs are filled with something sweet. His finger skim against my thigh and I let out a soft moan. That moan soon turns into a scream as his other hand burns through the front of my tunic. _Firebender_. _He's a firebender. _My hands push him off and I'm out of the closet in no time. "You're-."

But I don't need more words because he knows exactly what I wanted to say, _one of them, an enemy. _ He walks past me and grabs something from the cupboard, he then closes my mouth with his finger in a playful matter before he bows to me with outstretched arms and lunges himself out of the window. I steady myself on the bed as I try to replay what happened and soon all I see is darkness.

Suki finds me the next morning sleeping on one of the patient beds and I tell her everything.

-/-

When the soldiers come they find nothing but before they can leave one of them discreetly hands me a large pouch of money. On it there's a note that says; _For last night. _


End file.
